From helping you reach your personal goals, to figuring out how to perform exercises, to getting to the next level, to learning how to support a horse that is recovering from an injury, there are a number of reasons people work with ST Instructors.
Check out the top 10 benefits of personal training with a certified and licensed ST Instructor, and feel free to contact one of our 14 ST (Trainee) Instructors below:
1. Individual Attention
When it comes to training a horse, every horse and every rider is different. Your experience and your goals, and your horse’s unique body mechanics and fitness level can guide your trainer in creating a plan that is specific to your needs and that of your horse. With a program that fits, you are more likely to see results.
2. Tailor-Made Approach
Whether you have a young horse, a senior, or a horse somewhere in between, an ST Instructor can help you adjust or adapt your training approach to the age and stage of life of your horse. This will allow you to help, for example, your youngster getting ready for carrying a rider, or to help your senior maintain functionality and strength until an old age.
3. Creating Good Habits
When you are just STarting out with Straightness training, or are new to horse training, or find that some exercises are difficult, it is worth consulting an ST Instructor to be certain that you are doing the exercises in an efficient and effective way. By taking the time to learn proper horse training skills and exercise technique you are more likely to create good habits and prevent annoying your horse with doing things too much, too long, or too often.
4. Finding Momentum
If you find it difficult to STart & STick with ST, then an ST Instructor can hold you accountable and help you overcome all the excuses you might use to avoid your commitment to train your horse. Having an ST Instructor by your side can provide the encouragement, energy, and motivation you need to jumpstart your ST journey. An ST Instructor can also help you set goals, create a plan to accomplish them, and celebrate the day you reach them.
5. Confidence
Working with an ST Instructor allows you to get clarity and become confident with how to train your horse and perform exercises. Your ST Instructor can provide you suitable information and tailored direction on your ST journey, and help remove any guesswork so you can put all your energy toward accomplishing your goals. After a few one-on-one sessions, you will feel ready to train on your own, and being self-confident, and self-reliant can help you stick with the ST program over the long term.
6. Touchstone-Specific Training
Do you want to get ready for your first Groundwork Touchstone? Or prepare for the next training pillar or grade? Your ST Instructor can design a program specific to your pillar and grade, which will improve your performance and reduce your chance of getting off track. Also, if you’ve been training consistently for several weeks or months and aren’t reaching your goals, consulting an ST Instructor can help you tweak your work with the necessary 2mm to make your approach more efficient and effective. Your ST Instructors might work with you to set weekly or monthly goals and check in on a regular basis to see how you and your horse are doing.
7. Training with Medical Conditions
Doing ST with your horse is beneficial for preventing or managing many common (chronic) conditions such as arthritis, kissing spines, and navicular disease. ST is also very helpful when your horse has just been recovering from an injury and your ST Instructor can help you to increase your horse’s balance, core strength, and stability. However, doing exercises with a medical condition requires additional precautions. A knowledgeable ST Instructor with experience training horses with special conditions can design a program that ensures your horse’s health and safety, and provides a positive training experience.
8. “Been There, Done That”
Licensed ST Instructors have been personally successful in all five Training Pillars of Straightness Training – in Groundwork, Longeing, Work in hand, Riding and Liberty – and they have a passion to help you travel that same path! They have “been there, done that” and know the value of and the difference between knowing Straightness Training intellectually from the outside-in, and experiencing it from the inside-out. ST gives you the concepts, and ST Instructors can help you fill in the details.
9. Enjoyment
An ST Instructor can make your ST journey effective and fun! Training in groups during a workshop, or having lessons together with your STudy Buddy can be a great way to increase enjoyment, make training your horse social, and attain the services of an ST Instructor for a cheaper rate. ST Instructors offer a variety of courses for you to upskill and continue growing as a Straightness Trainer, such as clinics, workshops, lectures, winter socials, summer events, and private lessons in which you receive one-on-one tuition. So there are many ways to optimize your skills and actualize your horse’s potential!
10. Qualification
A licensed ST Instructor has an updated certification when it comes to Straightness Training. A big part of an ST Instructors’s job is to keep building their knowledge and skills in training horses and staying on top of the latest updates within Straightness Training. They keep learning, stay up to date, complete further education within the ST Instructor Program, and continually improve themselves. ST Instructors are dedicated to their profession and care about your learning!
List Of Licensed ST Instructors:
Whatever your needs are, our ST Instructors are here to help you out, to get you started with Straightness Training, and to help you progress further on your ST Journeys. Just contact one of our licensed ST Instructors:
ST Instructor B
(alphabetical order)
- Zaneta Georgiades, South Africa (Pretoria)
- Rebecca Gilbert, UK (Cambridgeshire) –> Also teaches in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands
ST Instructors D
(alphabetical order)
- Carolin Moldenhauer, Germany (Mid) –> Also teaches in the USA and other places
- Miriam Sherman, Germany (South) –> Also teaches in Italy, Czechia, Poland, and other places
- Kim Steutel, Netherlands (Noord Holland) –> Also teaches in Canada, Denmark, Finland, and France
- Anouk Wienia, Netherlands (Friesland) –> Also teaches in the Nordic countries
ST Instructors E
(alphabetical order)
- Dora Hebrock, USA (Ohio) –> Also teaches in Canada and Austria
- Rosan Veer, Netherlands (Utrecht) –> Also teaches in Belgium
ST Instructors F
(alphabetical order)
- Wendy Poore, UK
ST Instructors G
(alphabetical order)
- Juliana Dorneles, Brazil
- Victor Gueiros Freire, Brazil (Espirito Santo, Guarapari) –> Also teaches in Colombia, Argentina
License Types
As you can see, we work with License Types A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The reason why we use License Types for ST Instructors is to protect the quality of services provided by ST Instructors.
Click HERE for more info and an overview of all Licence Types »
ST Trainee Instructors 2020
Every year, Mastery Students who are successful in Grade 2 in the ST Evaluation Program, can be invited to the ST Instructor Program. In 2020, two new ST Trainee Instructors have been invited:
(In alphabetical order)
Kim Alford – South Africa – Durban:
Heleen Bouman – France:
ST Instructor Program
Marijke de Jong’s Straightness Training Academy aims to form a world wide professional group of loyal and dedicated horse trainers and instructors to the cause of improving health, joy and beauty in working with horses based on the principles of Straightness Training.
The Straightness Training Academy consists of the ST Mastery Program, the ST Evaluation Program and the ST Instructor Program:
Students who have been personally successful as a horse trainer in the ST Mastery and Evaluation Program can also develop the didactic side of their profession in the ST Instructor Program.
Click HERE to read more on How to Join the ST Academy »
Experiences from ST Instructors
Rebecca Gilbert – United Kingdom:
Zaneta Georgiades – South Africa:
Victor Gueiros Freire – Brazil:
Terms & Conditions on Teaching ST
Only licensed ST Instructors® are allowed to use Straightness Training® – Marijke de Jong® logos, photographs, illustrations, graphic material, (trade) names and the intellectual property of Straightness Training® – Marijke de Jong® . Non-licensed instructors (ST Instructor Graduates* and Dutch ‘Instructors Rechtrichten’ 2007-2015**) are allowed to refer in their CVs to their education and diplomas obtained by following Marijke de Jong’s teaching programs.
Commercial and/or official ST gatherings like events, workshops, clinics, need to be held under supervision of a licensed ST Instructor® to ensure that quality standards are met, and to protect the purity of Marijke de Jong’s Straightness Training method for the benefit of the horse and rider.
It’s not allowed to organize commercial and/or official gatherings in which approaches similar to Marijke de Jong’s Straightness Training are being practiced and taught, while using Marijke de Jong’s logos, trademarks, pictures, drawings and other visual expressions of the Straightness Training philosophy. It requires the presence of an official licensed ST instructor® to do so.
Private and non-commercial gatherings of enthusiastic ST lovers who are figuring out what ST can mean to them, are a sole responsibility of those who organize these gatherings.
ST Demos with a horse on live happenings and events in front of an audience can only be given by an ST Instructors with a licence A, B or C.
The licensed ST Instructors® listed on this website are trained and licensed by Marijke de Jong. They are independent entrepreneurs with their own privately owned companies. These licensed ST Instructors® are a member of the Straightness Training Instructor Network (STIN) and work together to spread and develop ST around the world.
* Graduates from the international ST Instructor Program
Between 2015 and 2018, our international ST Instructor Program has certified 20 ST Instructors. These ST Instructors have received a diploma as an official certificate, and they ave been certified in the five training pillars of ST: groundwork, longeing, work in hand, riding and liberty, all conform the ‘old’ 2015 standard – standard 1.0. – of the ST Evaluation Program (see FAQ 1.10. and 2.14. in the ST Evaluation FAQ).
The following instructors have successfully completed the ST Instructor Program 2015, and have received a diploma as an official certificate. These certified instructors (in alphabetical order) will offer their own range of teachings – including the 5 training pillars – under the umbrella of their own personal label:
- Meg Brauch – Diploma Grade 2 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Elaine Coxon – Diploma Grade 3 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Lucie Klaassen – Diploma Grade 2 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Marianne van de Sande Lee – Diploma Grade 2 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Natalie van der Meide – Diploma Grade 2 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Sandy Nye – Diploma Grade 1 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Roz Richmond – Diploma Grade 3 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
- Karin Wåhlin – Diploma Grade 2 in 2015 (according to the 1.0. standard)
The official title ST Instructor® is reserved strictly for the licensed instructors mentioned in the list of “Licensed ST Instructors” as listed above.
For the difference between the 2.0 and the 1.0 standard, see FAQ 1.10. and 2.14. in the ST Evaluation FAQ.
** Dutch “Instructeurs Rechtrichten”
Between 2007 and 2015 our Dutch Instructor program has certified over 40 instructors in the Netherlands and Belgium. These instructors have been certified in the three training components longeing, work in hand and riding at the level of competence that was the standard in the year of graduation. These instructors will offer their own range of teachings – including the 3 training components longeing, work in hand, riding – under the umbrella of their own personal label. The official title ST Instructor® is reserved strictly for the licensed instructors mentioned in the list of “Licensed ST Instructors” as listed above.
